


Wings of Fire: Fireborn

by Pokemaniac5000



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Crossposted on Fanfiction.net, F/M, Major character death - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Pretty much all OCs - Freeform, Set about two generations after The Lost Continent arc, WOF characters made an appearance but don't do much sorry, wings of fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokemaniac5000/pseuds/Pokemaniac5000
Summary: Many years after the Fall of Darkstalker, a new threat is stalking through the darkness. Hybrids now fill the continent as thickly as pure-bloods once did in the wake of a universal acceptance of cross-breeding. Moonweaver left Pantala as a young dragoness alongside her best friend Fireant. Together, they settled on what was once called the Distant Kingdoms, but is now known to the Pantalan natives as "Phyrria", and made it their life duty to protect and adopt out dragonets who are as frowned upon as themselves. Starlight, alongside his friend Hoarfrost and his adopted daughter Paradise are on the run from who he considers to be an all-powerful flamescales Skywing. Fleeing to Sanctuary for protection, he spends his days worrying about being found by the general of the Skywing army... or being discovered for being the one to set the Possibility fires. Their stories must converge if they want to survive the threat to their home, their families, and their livelihoods. The time is ticking.





	1. Chapter 1

Fire was blazing through Possibility. Dragons of all tribes swarmed the streets in a panicked haze. Some were parents that were desperately calling for their dragonets, some tiny hatchlings crying out in fear, some simply trying to escape the fire only to be met with a wall of smoke in the skies. 

Skywings and Sandwings alike were trying to keep the peace, trying to guide dragons to safe places to fly away. There was even a Mudwing in the midst of the smoke, her red-brown wings spread wide in an attempt to smother what flames she could.

A young Silkwing dragoness craned her neck to glance beyond the swarms of dragons. A small black face wriggled under her wing before being batted back into the safety of their home. The Silkwing made sure she stood in the way of the door before addressing her mate, whom of which was pacing back and forth through their home.

“The fire is only getting closer, Fireant. We can’t stay.”

Her mate was a primarily golden Skywing with deep green scales down his back and under his belly. His arms and wing-arms were red, and his horns were a shade of red-orange. He had powerful amber eyes that were narrowed in stress. He flapped his wings in indignance. “We can’t leave! There are too many dragons already trying to escape. Any of the dragonets could get crushed out there!”

The Silkwing fluttered her wings in anxiety. Her face was a light blue and, as her scales neared her tail, they grew darker and darker until they became entirely black. Her belly was pink and gradually grew darker as well until it became a green so dark it could barely be distinguished against the black. It was immediately clear upon looking at them that they were both hybrids, but hybrids were incredibly common, especially in a town such as Possibility.

The dragonets hovering around them were not much plainer of a sight: there was a Hivewing with an entirely black head and golden body, a red-and-black striped tail, and red paws; a primarily Seawing dragonet whose only indication of having Rainwing in his was the blue frill around his jaw and his multi-colored tail; and a last dragonet with a yellow body, blue head and belly scales, and tiny Hivewing wings.

In Fireant’s arms was a small egg colored entirely in shades of blue and green. It was this that he seemed particularly stressed over. The Hivewing dragonet scampered away from the Silkwing and tackled the Seawing, immediately forgetting the possible danger.

“It doesn’t make sense,” the Silkwing fretted. “We’ve lived here for so long and we’ve never experienced something like this.”

“Moonweaver,” Fireant said softly. Cradling the egg in one arm, he limped towards his mate and rested his head on her shoulder. “We’ll be fine. We’ve survived worse. We’ve survived going over an entire ocean together, remember?” He let out a soft chur of comfort. “We’ll be fine until the coast is clear, and then we can get everyone out, okay?”

Moonweaver let out a low sigh, trying to still her shaking wings.

The Seawing dragonet pushed the Hivewing away with a cry of indignance. “ _Mooom!_ Milkweed keeps attacking me!”

“Am not!” Milkweed, the Hivewing dragonet with the black-scaled face, shouted back. “I didn’t do _anything_! Rainstorm keeps making things up!”

Moonweaver barely glanced at the fighting dragonets. She loved every single one of them, but it was moments like this that made her question her and Fireant’s decision to have one of their own. Milkweed was initially only a foster dragonet, but many families had tried taking him in and he always came back a few days later. After four or five failed adoptions, they decided to keep the Hivewing dragonet for themselves. Rainstorm was the Seawing dragonet with the colorful tail- he appeared at a time when Fireant and Moonweaver were already trying to have their own dragonets. He was a troublesome orphan that wandered the streets of Possibility tricking elders and other young dragonets out of food. Yet, somehow, he immediately took to living a more docile life with parents that cared for him. Honeyglow was the last of their adopted dragonets, and nobody could really tell the same story of where she came from. She appeared one day and won the hearts of everyone who met her.

It was only after then did they finally succeed in having an egg.

Moonweaver felt a twinge of pain. No wonder Fireant seemed so much more concerned over their egg. She inched towards their window again, gazing at the chaos outside. The heat was reaching them, now. It would only be a matter of time before their home fell to the hungry flames, and if they didn’t leave soon, the entire life they had made for themselves and their dragonets would be ruined as well.

Moonweaver roughly pulled a swathe of red cloth from a nearby shelf and began to wrap it around herself.

“What are you doing?” Fireant asked, immediately piquing the attention of three curious dragonets as well.

Her gaze immediately swept to the window before turning back to her work. “We’re escaping. I refuse to stay here and let everything I love get burned to the ground.” Once she was satisfied with her work, she gently pried the egg from Fireant’s talons. His grip tightened, but only slightly. “I promise, it’ll be okay.” With careful claws, she tied the egg to her chest with the cloth. It was surprisingly warm against her chest and strangely tender to the touch. “Honeyglow, please keep your brothers in check.” Honeyglow immediately nodded in compliance and shot Rainstorm and Milkweed the most threatening glance she could muster. Now that Moonweaver was being so verbally serious, though, even Rainstorm and Milkweed seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Moonweaver, are you sure this is the safest option?” Fireant asked quietly, his voice too low for the dragonets to hear. She pricked her ears and tipped her head in the direction of the fire. She could hear it, now. They couldn’t stay.

“It’s the only option,” she whispered back. She touched her nose to the egg around her chest before sweeping her dragonets to her side. “Stay close to your father and I,” she said sternly. “And whatever happens, don’t look back, okay? Don’t let anything distract you from us.”

The boys nodded with wide, startled eyes. Honeyglow folded her wings and gazed past her mother.

“Fireant-”

“I’m staying at the back,” the Skywing snapped immediately.

Moonweaver touched Fireant’s tail with her own. “I was going to ask you to.” She edged again to the door and poked her head out. The fleeing dragons had thinned out and even more Skywings and Sandwings had appeared with buckets of water. However, the fire was raging even more intensely than it had been before.

It took Fireant’s gentle nudge to shake her out of her terrified stupor. “Stay right on my tail,” she demanded of the dragonets, and then they were flying. Despite her instructions to not look back, Moonweaver kept glancing back. They were still in the air when she saw embers nibbling at the door of their home, and the next time she looked back, it was nothing but an inferno.

“We should stop,” Fireant called once Possibility was left far behind. Moonweaver shook the tears from her eyes and dipped her wings to land on a slab of rock. As soon as she heard the click of her talons hitting the rock, she heard the significantly less graceful landings of Rainstorm and Milkweed. Honeyglow landed almost silently, and Fireant with a heavy thump. Moonweaver immediately did a headcount. She let out a heavy sigh of relief- all of her dragonets were in one place. “Is anyone hurt?” Fireant demanded. Each of the dragonets took turns shaking their heads but Moonweaver found herself silently checked them anyway. She rose a talon to the egg wrapped around her chest and slipped it out of its sling.

“Fireant,” she whispered hoarsely. She laid her egg on the ground and stared at it. “It’s cracked.” She placed her talon on the cracked shell, feeling her heart sink.

“Moon, Moon, it’s okay,” the Skywing placed his talons on her own.

She stared numbly at her mate, shaking uncontrollably. She had just wanted to protect her family, but she failed to protect her only biological dragonet. She turned her attention back to the cracked egg and gently lifted it back to her chest. She felt tears rising in her eyes.

Moon, relax.” She felt Fireant’s wing around her back.

She felt it shift slightly in her grasp, and another long crack split across the shell.

“She’s- she’s hatching,” Moonweaver whispered, her despair immediately swelling into joy and hope.

“I’ll help!” Milkweed cried, immediately diving at his adopted mother’s talons.

“Milkweed- no!” Fireant snapped, grabbing the Hivewing dragonet and pulling him back. “This isn’t the time for your games.”

Moonweaver, entirely unsure of what else to do, placed the egg on the ground and took a step back. Almost as soon as the shell grazed the ground, a hole broke open on the side and a pale blue dragonet tumbled out with a squawk. It had been such a long time since Moonweaver had seen a newly hatched dragonet that her first reaction was shock.

 _She’s… she’s so tiny!_ There was something so, so different, watching your own dragonet hatch in front of your eyes.

“Moon,” Fireant whispered, gently pulling his mate closer to him. He couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from the tiny dragonet that was already struggling to stand for the first time. They had seen many, many dragonets hatch in their time as foster parents, but even he seemed to be affected in the same way she was. It was everything about their daughter- her wingbuds, the pale blue of her body and the deep blue of her back that were so reminiscent of Moonweaver. The red constellation of scales on her back, the spines, and the greens of Fireant. She was so clearly _theirs_ in a way that none of their dragonets had ever been before. “I think this means that fate led us here.”


	2. Chapter 2

Setting the fire in Possibility was something that still haunted Starlight’s dreams, even now. He hadn’t realized it would spread so quickly, nor had he realized just how many dragons lived in the town. The sheer amount of hybrids alone was enough for him to nearly cry. He had been raised in the Sky Kingdom, which was the only tribe that cared at all about preserving full-bloods. It had been so many years since the tribes began to mingle that he knew that towns like Possibility and Sanctuary didn’t even begin to touch on the population of hybrids in Pyrrhia. Starlight knew this, but he still almost never saw hybrids. It was actually General Heatwave herself who began to insist that cross-breeding would be beneficial for their tribe. She began to use dragons like Starlight to prove this, despite the fact that Starlight didn’t have an ounce of powers from his Sandwing half.

Hoarfrost was the first terrifying hybrid he had ever met. She had worked alongside him under General Heatwave, although she was much older when she was brought in. Because of this, Hoarfrost was a lot more stubborn and careless, and often said things without any concern for the punishment despite the fact that that punishment was always on the verge of being burned alive.

By a dragon that was now probably after them and would stop at nothing to kill them ever since they fled with the dragonet they were supposed to be indoctrinating.

Hoarfrost was ahead of them, her large wings designed for flying the distance. She had just as much Sandwing in her as Starlight did, but she seemed to have been blessed with the larger wings of one, designed for coasting over the hot desert for days. Starlight instead inherited the frankly puny wings of his Nightwing parent.

Paradise was keeping speed with Starlight, which was a testament to Starlight’s size and flying weakness since she wasn’t even half his size yet. She didn’t seem to quite understand the situation they were in, and just how much danger they were in. She was the dragonet that was put under Starlight and Hoarfrost’s care. Now, she was fleeing with them to Sanctuary.

(Starlight was glad that Hoarfrost suggested Sanctuary instead of Possibility. He didn’t want to ever set foot in there again, and he heard that the founders occasionally still visited to make sure everything was running smoothly. Some part of him felt like nobody would want to attack a town that someone like the legendary Prophecy Dragonets or the world-famous Darkstalker Slayers frequented. Although, Starlight wasn’t entirely certain about how true the story was. Darkstalker, a dragon larger than a mountain, being defeated by half a dozen dragonets younger than Starlight? It didn’t sound right to him)

Finally, Starlight saw a town looming in the distance. It was larger than he had anticipated, with dozens of armored guards flying in the skies above. Starlight hesitated, unsure of how he could enter without meeting the sharp end of one of their weapons. However, Hoarfrost immediately began to dive towards the city, with Paradise speeding up until she was right on her adopted mother’s tail. Starlight took a deep breath and tried to calm his shaking talons before dipping after them.

The guards immediately rose to meet the trio. Taking the lead was an obvious Sandwing/Seawing hybrid, his intense blue eyes sizing up the trio as if he was wondering if he could take them all on at once. Hoarfrost paused to hover with the other two directly behind her. Starlight stared at the ground, gently probing the guards’ heads for any signs of suspicion, or any mentions of the Possibility fire.

“We’re looking for sanctuary,” Hoarfrost said, her voice polite but firm. One of the other guards gave a chuckle, which was quickly hushed by the hybrid. Starlight picked out that his name was Shellburst.

“You’ve found it,” he said.

“No, I mean, like,” Hoarfrost grinned slightly before wiping it off her face. “No, like, protection. We’re on the run, you see.” She waved her wing to indicate the other two. “We have information, too.”

Shellburst stared them all down, looking between them. “Fine. Lucky for you, we’re supposed to have a visit from one of the founders today. You can tell him everything you know then, in exchange for your safety, of course.”

In the guard’s head, Starlight saw a powerful Icewing with an amber earring.

“Then take us to where we can wait,” Hoarfrost said, and Shellburst nodded and took them down to the ground. The rest of the guards surrounded the group, but none of them looked like they were trying to be very threatening.

They touched down in a meticulously painted square. Starlight couldn’t help but look down at it, wondering at the superior craftsmanship. The Sky Kingdom’s idea of pretty decor was throwing gold everywhere. The square didn’t look as if it had any valuable materials in it, but it was painted in every color Starlight had ever seen and more. He rubbed his claws against it, relishing in the polished surface.

Compared to the beautifully decorated floor, the dragons around them were only the second most interesting thing to Starlight. Once upon a time, purebloods would have outnumbered hybrids ten to one, even in a town dedicated to providing protection to hybrids. However, the numbers had flipped. There were hybrids, primarily first generation, all around him. Some younger dragons were second generation hybrids, their colors varying from any tribe that Starlight had ever seen before and their features conflicting with each other because of it. Starlight was also pretty sure he saw a few third generation hybrids here and there. He felt a hint of warmth in his chest, pleasantly surprised by the abundance of dragons just like him, before that warmth turned cold. This is exactly what General Heatwave was wanting.

Starlight stayed as still as he could in the center of the square, his feet as close together as they could physically get as he tried to make himself as small as possible. He tried not to let his mind wander into other dragons’ minds, but any dragon with knowledge of Nightwings would know that the teardrop scale by his eye meant that he could read minds.

A few hours must’ve passed, which Hoarfrost spent pacing around the square and making small talk with other dragons. Paradise tried straying a few times, but the guard that had led them here kept nudging her back towards Starlight as if afraid that the dragonet would dirty the pavilion if left to roam. Finally, he heard a commotion in the sky, prompting him to glance up. Instantly, dragons all around him either snapped into attention or spent all of their effort looking like they were busy. Starlight was startled at the sight of the dragon at the head, and couldn’t keep his eyes off of him even as he touched down.

He was a gorgeous Icewing, the same one that he saw in Shellburst’s mind. He wasn’t a huge dragon, but he was definitely older than Hoarfrost and Starlight and bigger than both of them. His scales glittered in a way that Hoarfrost’s never did. He wore an amber earring in one ear that clashed horribly with his scales, but he seemed as if he couldn’t care less. Behind him was a Sandwing with a spray of freckles on his snout that were only broken up by an ugly scar across it. The third, and last dragon, was a Nightwing with her tail entwined with the Sandwing’s. She was the smallest of the group, but clearly around the same age as the other two, with green-tinted scales and a teardrop scale not unlike Starlight’s. They all shared that same, strange amber earring.

The Nightwing and the Sandwing stayed back as the Icewing came directly up to Shellburst. His eyes immediately shifted to land on Starlight and his group, examining them in turn. He glanced quickly back at his two friends, the Sandwing shrugging while the Nightwing shaking her head very slightly. “This looks like something important,” the Icewing grunted. Starlight tried to gently probe his mind to hear his mind, but he realized that there was nothing but a gentle hum coming from the Icewing. A quick examination proved the same true for the Nightwing and the Sandwing. Starlight shivered. He didn’t know that dragons could block out mindreaders so completely like that.

“These three just showed up today. They say they have information. I figured that this was something that you would want to hear about before anyone else.”

Now the Icewing was staring at Starlight with such intensity that he wished that he could sink into the ground. “Did you have a vision? A prophecy??”

Starlight took a startled step back. “I-I-uh-”

“He can read minds,” Paradise piped up.

“No future-telling or prophecies for Starlight,” Hoarfrost confirmed.

The Icewing stared at Starlight for a much longer moment before finally swinging his head away with a clatter of spikes. “Fine. This should be good.” He turned, waving his wing in a motion to follow. Hoarfrost was first to follow, with Paradise close behind. Starlight took a moment and only moved when Shellburst poked him with the dull end of a spear.

The fullbloods took Starlight and his group into a building almost in the very center of Sanctuary. The room that they entered had several chairs and tables overlooking a wide glass pane. Starlight didn’t look through the glass. The Icewing didn’t immediately settle down and instead flew through an opening as if going to check something. The Nightwing settled across from Starlight, and the Sandwing followed her and sat up next to her, his gaze darting from size to side. “I’m sorry if this is overwhelming you,” she said gently. Her voice was soft, tender, almost like she was speaking to her own child. “Do you know our names?”

Starlight glanced around for Hoarfrost and Paradise, but they were looking out the window, the hybrid dragonet tugging on her adopted mother’s wing and crying out in excitement. Starlight gulped and turned back to the Nightwing. “N-No.”

She scoffed. “Dangit Winter… sorry. I’m Moonwatcher… you can just call me Moon, though. This is Qibli.” She tipped her head to her Sandwing companion, who gave Starlight a charming grin. “The intimidating Icewing is Winter. He likes coming here to check on his scavengers and see how they’re doing.”

Starlight felt his throat run dry. “You’re… you’re the Darkstalker Slayers.”

“The one and only,” Qibli said with a smirk. Moon nudged him and gave him a disapproving look.

“Captain Shellburst said you had information for us. Is that true?”

Starlight nodded slowly. He glanced over his shoulder, but Moon waved her talon.

“We’ll fill him in later. If you want to talk to us now, go for it.”

Starlight took a deep, shaky breath. Finally, real heroes could take on this challenge. He didn’t have to see General Heatwave ever again. He could leave it to the Darkstalker Slayers and never even think about it again.

So, he started filling them in.

“I came from… from the Sky Kingdom. I was abducted as an egg… or maybe a dragonet. I don’t remember… by a dragoness named Heatwave. She had this… this idea that hybrids were superior. She wanted to make an army of us. I… I think she wanted to dispose of us useless hybrids once she got enough useful ones…”

His voice was soft as he continued his story: about how Heatwave had started trying to breed the ultimate hybrid, using even herself as part of this experiment. About how Hoarfrost and him had run away in hopes of protection from her. It got to the point that he started speaking so softly but so quickly that he wasn’t even sure they could understand him. Winter had rejoined them at some point and was listening with a disapproving scowl.

When Starlight finally said everything he could think of, he closed his mouth and kept his gaze trained on his talons.

“No, Moon, don’t even give me that look!” Winter flapped his wings, his spikes rattling dangerously. “We are done with fighting big bad dragons! No more!”

“Winter, just because you’re a bit creaky doesn’t mean we all are.” Qibli spread his wings flamboyantly. “We could totally take on the Skywing general and the entire army. What could possibly happen? Give me a week, _tops_.”

“I’m confused,” Moon said after a moment. She frowned, her eyes searching Starlight’s. “You said that everyone is afraid of her? Why hasn’t she been overthrown yet?”

“Because…” Starlight said after a moment. He stared at his talons for a long moment before looking Moon in the eye. “She’s a Flamescales… and she has an animus on her side.”

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Several weeks after the burning of Possibility marked the second time Moonweaver witnessed Fireant nearly dying.

The first time, they had been flying near a scavenger den and they had shot a harpoon straight through his chest. She had been convinced that she was going to lose him then, especially when she brought him to her now-best friend and the best healer in Possibility, Glowworm. Glowworm had told her that she would do her best, but the likelihood of Fireant surviving was almost none.

The second time, she hadn’t even been aware that there was someone else. Possibility was rebuilding and Fireant was doing his best to help repair while Moonweaver stayed back with the dragonets. Each day, he would come home late and exhausted. He would stretch himself out on a flat rock and fall asleep watching his dragonets until they grew tired as well, after which they would all bundle together into a big ball of colors and sleep through the rest of the night.

Fireant was drifting off and Moonweaver had been watching the dragonets. Suddenly, the air seemed to prickle. Her antennae instinctively rose and she flipped her head around, trying to sense who was near.

As she turned her head again, doing a quick headcount of their dragonets, a Hivewing burst from the shadows. All that Moonweaver saw were the unnaturally long fangs of the dragon, which no-doubtably held one of hundreds of possible Hivewing abilities.

Perhaps Fireant was alerted to Moonweaver’s startle, because as those fangs came down to bury in Fireant’s neck, he whipped to a standing position and the Hivewing’s teeth landed in his shoulder instead. Moonweaver let out a cry of rage, her wrists immediately rising to spray silk on the attacker. He let out a frustrated growl as his claws grew entangled in the fine silver material, which was enough time for her to launch herself at him. Fireant wrenched himself from the attack’s hold and fire spewed from his snout, lighting the webbing on fire. Immediately, the dragon screeched in agony and furiously shook his entire body until he was free. He lept into the air and hissed at the dragons.

“General Heatwave wants you back, Fireant!” He hissed. His pupils had shrunk to an unnaturally small dot in his eyes, and his jaw hung open slightly. “Do not keep her waiting!”

Before either of them could even think to attack him again, he was winging away faster than Moonweaver could catch up with. Fireant was already readying himself to fly, but she grabbed his tail before he could. She knew that he could easily catch up with his Skywing-sized wings, but she shook her head at him.

“You’re still injured,” Moonweaver said softly, touching the bite wounds on Fireant’s shoulder. Her mate shrugged it off, but she could see his eyes drooping slightly and the way that his wings were slowly falling. Her antennae gently brushed over the wound and she recoiled in disgust. “What is in his fangs? Fireant, I’m going to take you to Glowworm. Don’t pass out on me, okay?”

Honeyglow raced over, followed closely behind by her brothers. Each of them were asking questions over each other, so intensely that Moonweaver couldn’t understand them. She threw out her wings and stared down at the dragonets as fiercely as they could. Flamespinner, who had been playing by herself, only then seemed to notice that something had happened. Moonweaver was thankful that she, at least, was too young to understand what had happened. She gazed over each of the dragonets before resting her gaze on Milkweed.

“Milkweed, can you keep an eye on everyone? I need to get Fireant to Glowworm, _fast_ , and I need someone to make sure that nobody wonders off.”

Milkweed stood straighter. “Yes Mom!”

“That means you all need to stay put, okay?” Moonweaver cast her gaze across her dragonets, her gaze fierce, before turning back to her mate. Fireant was struggling to keep his eyes open, but Moonweaver nudged him until he was able to look at her. “Don’t pass out, please. We need to get to Possibility.”

Fireant shook his head and gave a half-hearted smile. “I’ll try.”

Moonweaver was smaller than Fireant, so she couldn’t carry him. Instead, she hoisted one of Fireant’s wings onto her back and spread her own. It was awkward, especially since her wings were much wider, but Fireant unfolded his wings as well and, luckily, was able to get airborne with Moonweaver’s help.

There was not much of a fly to Possibility. In fact, it was a glide more than anything, since they had been staying on a ridge that overlooked the town of hybrids. As soon as they touched down, Fireant crumpled to the ground, his eyes drifting shut and his legs failing beneath him.

Almost on cue, a familiar Night/Sea hybrid caught Moonweaver’s eyes and turned to land next to her.

He was in his armor, which hid most of his black and silver scales. It was really only his piercing blue eyes that gave him away. “Moonweaver, what’s going on?” He turned his gaze down to Fireant, confusion dawning in his gaze as he saw the bite on Fireant’s shoulder.

Moonweaver shook her head fiercely. “Stormy, thank the moons. I don’t know. We got attacked by a Hivewing… he bit Fireant. There was something in his teeth but I don’t know what.”

Stormy growled. “Hivewings… it’s also so hard to tell. I’ll go get my sister. I don’t think Fireant will be getting much further.” He nodded to Fireant’s crumpled form. The leafwing hybrid was breathing heavily, but he didn’t look as if he was in much pain. In fact, he looked like he was just… sleeping.

Stormy took off in the direction of the healer’s. Moonweaver let out a deep breath that she had been holding and partially wrapped her body around her mate. Glowworm had been the one to save Fireant the first time. She had been the first dragon outside of their family to see a newly hatched Flamespinner, and had long since been considered a close enough friend to be called ‘aunt’ by their dragonets. Knowing that Glowworm would soon be on her way comforted Moonweaver enough to rest her head on her mate’s shoulder.

A few minutes later, the rush of flapping wings startled Moonweaver enough to look up. She spotted Stormy in the lead, with two other armor-laden guards flanking Glowworm as if acting as a shield.

They touched down together, as if they had spent many hours just learning how to appear as a unit. Glowworm, however, immediately broke away from them and ran to Fireant’s side. She didn’t waste time with any pleasantries. “Stormy said a Hivewing attacked you? Do you have any indication of what kind of powers this Hivewing had?”

Moonweaver shook her head as Glowworm started searching Fireant’s body. When the bite mark was the only injury of note, she seemed just as confused as Moonweaver had been, but she continued to check his heart and breathing.

“He doesn’t seem like he got injected with anything dangerous… his breathing is fine, his heart rate is slow but no slower than any other sleeping dragon. He’s not even running a fever. Nonetheless, I’d still like to keep an eye on him. Can you help me?” She turned to the guards that had escorted her as she spoke. Immediately, the other two guards, one a green seawing and the other a red and yellow Skywing, hoisted Fireant onto their backs and flew off. Stormy flew with them from below, ready to catch him if he fell.

Glowworm spread her wings and followed them, but Moonweaver hesitated. Finally, she called to her friend: “I’ll be there! I need to get the dragonets!”

The Seawing hybrid flicked her tail in response, and Moonweaver turned and took off towards where she had left the dragonets.

As she neared the top of the ridge, she felt her heart begin to constrict in her chest. Something was wrong. It felt like there were eyes on her, and not just one set: dozens of pairs of eyes, staring at her.

By the time her claws touched land, she found herself in a state of borderline panic. She immediately took off, sprinting towards where she had left her dragonets.

Moonweavers skidded to a halt, her heart stopping in her chest as an indescribable cry rose in her throat.

Milkweed lay in a mishappen ball, his scales blemished with nasty wounds and blood. His siblings were nowhere to be found. He managed to raise his head to look at Moonweaver as she stumbled towards him. His tail flicked and he struggled to his feet, tripping over himself in an attempt to meet her in the middle. Milkweed collapsed into her chest, tears staining his snout. “Momma, I’m sorry,” he whimpered. His claws clutched at Moonweaver’s chest, his amber eyes desperate and pained. “They took them. I tried to fight them, Momma, I did…”

“Milkweed, what happened?” Moonweaver breathed. Her breath felt like it was catching in her throat. She could feel a sort of emptiness begin to grasp at her, her body numbing itself in order to keep from shutting down completely. When Milkweed didn’t immediately respond, she took his head in her talons and gently raised his gaze to meet her’s. “Milkweed, please… don’t pass out on me. Tell me what happened.”

Milkweed shook his head. The young Hivewing was only a few years away from adulthood now, but he clung to his mother as if he was a newly hatched dragonet. His body was quivering in her hold. “...two Hivewings… I don’t even know what happened… we w-were waiting for you and I a-asked Honeyglow and Rainstorm if they knew w-when you were gonna be back…” His body faltered again, his entire weight now resting in Moonweaver’s arms. “The-the att-tackers left me on p-purpose… I tried to fight them Momma but they t-took them away…”

“Where are they?” Moonweaver demanded. Again, Milkweed didn’t respond. “Where are they?” Her voice rose in anguish.

“They said that… that the Skywing general wanted Papa. They said th-that they were taking the others t-to force you to come.” Milkweed’s eyes were fluttering now.

Moonweaver shook her head fiercely in confusion. They had never had anything to do with Skywings in their lives! Why would someone do this… and for Fireant? However, her attention was immediately grappled by Milkweed’s body pitching to the side. She cried out again and clutched her dragonet to her chest. He was still alive- she could feel his heart beat beneath her talons- but he wouldn’t be for much longer if she didn’t get him immediate attention. Moonweaver blinked tears out of her eyes and immediately swung around towards Possibility.

The faces of her dragonets flashed in their minds; she could only imagine what they must be feeling right now. However, if they were being used for ransome, then surely they weren’t in any immediate danger? Milkweed was bleeding profusely and would succumb to his injuries or even shock if he wasn’t seen as soon as possible.

She didn’t even bother landing when she reached Possibility. She swept over the rooftops, her gaze deadset on Glowworm’s hut. “Glowworm!” She cried. “I need your help! Now!”

  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Winter was pacing back and forth, a deep frown settled on his features. His tail was lashing with a rather loud clatter of spikes at its every movement. “No, no, no! I am done with prophecies, I am done with villains, I’m done with world-ending threats! How many catastrophes have we lived through so far? _At least_ three? Plus, _some_ of us have families to worry about first and foremost.” He turned his icy gaze towards Starlight, who shrunk under his glare. Starlight was finding that, for the first time, he was incredibly glad he couldn’t hear what was going on in that frosted mind. He was afraid that it was nothing more than just a mirror of what was coming from the ice dragon’s mouth. “Moon, are you seriously considering leaving your daughter behind to help some random dragon off the streets?”

Qibli threw his wings out, looking offended. “You realize that Wispseeker can handle herself, right? _And_ one of us can stay back with her while the other can go. Winter, don’t ignore your character development just for the sake of arguing.”

“A flamescales with an animus on her side. You seriously think that’s a battle you could win?”

“Three moons, _we_ have a flamescales on our side. And multiple animuses!” Qibli exclaimed.

The arguing between the founders continued, enough so that Starlight was able to slink away from the conversation back to Hoarfrost and Paradise. Hoarfrost was staring at Starlight with a look of confusion on her face, but Paradise was still staring out the window in awe.

“They’re still fighting? Over something like this?” Hoarfrost seemed surprised. “You think this is something they would immediately jump on. Never too late to get even more famous, right?”

“This isn’t a joke, Hoarfrost!” Starlight snapped. “General Heatwave is after us and she _will kill us_! With Recluse on her side, she could do anything.”

Paradise bounced up to Starlight and grabbed his wings. “Look, Papa! Scavengers!”

Starlight shook her off. “Paradise, not now. We need to figure out what our next move will be if they decide not to help us.” He felt a kernel of anger blooming in his chest. If it weren’t for Winter, they would be fine! They would have the Darkstalker Slayers on their side and General Heatwave wouldn’t stand a chance! Instead, this Icewing was sentencing all three of them to death. He instinctively curled a wing over Paradise.

“We could get help from the guards. If Sanctuary and Possibility combined-”

“No!” Starlight exclaimed before he could stop himself. He took an uncomfortable step back, immediately shaking. “I r-refuse to go to Possibility! I-I’d rather die!” No, more accurately, going to Possibility meant he _would_ die. He wasn’t the most inconspicuous dragon. Someone would immediately catch on to him and know that he set the fires. He couldn’t let that happen. Hoarfrost raised her talons and took a half-step back.

“Whoa, whoa, fine. But that means there’s no other plan! We’re on our own!”

Starlight shook his head fiercely, trying to come up with something. “We can figure something out. I don’t care! I just don’t want anything to do with Possibility!”

He realized that Paradise was staring at him now. A moment later he realized that Moonwatcher, Qibli, and Winter were also staring at him. Starlight shrunk down into his wings, self-conscious. Moon slowly padded up to Starlight, her gaze gentle but she was clearly upset. “I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to help you. Winter is right. We have to defend this town first and foremost. If you stay here then you’ll be under our protection, too. If you leave, though…”

“We’re on our own,” Starlight finished in a small voice.

Moon gave him a sad look. “I’m sorry… if you stay in town, though, you won’t have to worry about that. And there shouldn’t be any reason to leave town.” She placed a talon on Starlight’s shoulder, and it took all of his strength not to shrug her away. “You can stay here as long as you need to. We’ll pass this information on and see if there’s anyone else that can help.”

“Deathbringer would probably love a chance to get back in the saddle,” Qibli joked.

“Don’t worry about it! Everything’ll be fine. We’ll be bringing in extra reinforcements tomorrow. Trust me, there’ll be so many dragons around here you’ll wish there were less guards!”

Starlight smiled slightly as Winter paced back over. “We need to be going on. We need to bring this back to the Academy.”

Moon nodded in agreement. “Good luck, you guys. And thank you so much for the information. We’ll do everything we can to protect you.” Winter let out a low grunt and took to the sky. Moon shook her head with a sigh and her and Qibli took off together. Starlight watched them go until they were nothing but tan, white, and black dots against the sky.

Hoarfrost looked down at Starlight, her black and blue eyes glittering. “See, Starlight? Nothing to worry about. We’re totally safe here.”

“Yeah…” Starlight agreed weakly. He continued to stare at where the founders had disappeared. “...totally safe.”

…

Moonwatcher, Qibli, and Winter were on their way home. Moon felt a heavy hint of guilt in her chest for not being able to help the dragons, but Winter made too many good points. She sighed, shaking her head. With the Skyfire on, she couldn’t hear the other dragon’s thoughts, but she didn’t need to to see the way that his soul had been crushed before his very eyes. There was clearly something very scary going on.

“Um… hey guys, what’s that?” Qibli had paused in midair and was now hovering, his eyes dancing around in an attempt to follow some quickly moving object. Winter had stopped beside him, and Moon stopped as well. It was a small black dot, gradually growing larger…

The answer didn’t come to her until the object impaled Winter directly through the chest. Blue blood exploded from behind him and he let out a roar before dropping. Qibli and Moon cried out and dove, desperately flying as fast as they could towards where Winter was falling.

The spear flipped around and came straight through Qibli’s chest, his eyes immediately glazing over as he joined Winter in freefall. Moon found herself incapable of moving as the spear came straight for her, and the last thing she saw as it pierced her chest was the bloody forms of her mate and best friend falling from the sky.

The trio landed amongst rocks and trees in a valley, where nobody would ever be able to find them again.

  
  
  



End file.
